No solution to sewage hook-up ban in eastern Salisbury Township

A lengthy moratorium on tap-ins to sewage treatment facilities in Salisbury Township has the Board of Commissioners looking for potential solutions.

Commissioner Robert Martucci said that the state Department of Environmental Protection's ban on hook-ups in the eastern portion of the township near Fountain Hill has property owners concerned about the inability to build on their lots.

"We approved the properties for subdivisions, and now they can't build because of the moratorium on sewage," he said during a Board of Commissioners meeting Thursday.

The area is served by the Bethlehem Water and Sewer Authority wastewater treatment plant on Shimersville Road. According to information on the city's website, the plant was built in 1955 and last expanded in the early 1970s.

Director of Planning and Zoning Cynthia Sopka said the problem is the smallish lot sizes of the properties in question, adding that one solution might be the state approving the construction of retaining tanks to serve the lot owners.

That option might be cost-prohibitive, she said, particularly if homeowners are later told they have to abandon their systems to hook up to city service should it become available.

Another option, she said, would be the introduction of on-lot septic systems to serve individual properties, but that also comes with the risk of abandonment for hook-ups to city water down the road.

"You've got to be really careful with doing that," township engineer David Tettemer said, citing all of the requirements that the DEP mandates to introduce new septic systems as opposed to replacing failing ones.

"You can get approval from the DEP to do this but you generally need an acre," he said. "If you have the land and meet the requirements, the DEP will approve it."

Per its zoning ordinance, Salisbury requires 2 acres of land to construct septic systems, Sopka said.

Either way, Martucci said residents have to accept the fact that they will ultimately have to reach into their own pockets to pay for a solution.

"They've got to realize, this is at their expense," Martucci said.

He said he has been getting persistent calls and emails from one property owner in particular, but that multiple lot owners are impacted by the ban.

Property owners were aware of the ban on tap-ins when they subdivided, acting township manager Cathy Bonaskiewich said.